It is well known that the most expensive place to hold merchandise is on the shelf of a retail store because of all resources it consumes until that point, such as labor, transportation, and storage costs. In addition, consumer study conducted by Anderson Consulting (now Accenture) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) showed that of the products consumers want in a grocery store, 6% to 8% are out-of-stock. For promotional items, this number jumps to 25% out-of-stock products. The study concluded that the out-of-stock levels add up to about $100 billion in lost sales for retailers.
Therefore, there is a need for retail mechanisms that would enable retailers to meet customers' demands without having to hold merchandise on the shelves. For example, a retail system disclosed in my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/745,420 filed on Dec. 26, 2000, entitled “RETAIL SYSTEM WITH PURCHASE ORDERING” and incorporated herewith by reference, employs a purchase ordering mechanism in a retail system controlled by a control system and comprising at least one storage facility for storing goods available for sale in the retail system, and multiple purchase obtaining points. Each purchase obtaining point enables a customer to obtain an ordered purchase after a time period sufficient to deliver the ordered purchase from the storage facility to the purchase obtaining point. To order the purchase, the customer may use a computer terminal remote with respect to the purchase obtaining points, or a computer terminal installed at one of the purchase obtaining points. Alternatively, a purchase may be ordered via a telephone system.
A computer system may provide an electronic version of a catalog that lists available items. A customer may browse through the catalog using a browser and select various items to be purchased. The selection of the various items from the electronic catalog generally imitates a “basket” or “shopping cart”. When the user selects an item from the electronic catalog, the server computer system metaphorically adds that item to the customer's basket or shopping cart.
However, known systems of browsing the catalog and selecting various products involve complex procedures making it difficult for a customer to order products electronically. Hence, there is a need for a user-friendly graphical user interface that would facilitate product ordering.